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The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) and the State Boards and Commissions released a summary of disciplinary actions through the month of December taken on individuals and entities with professional and vocational licenses in Hawai’i. These disciplinary actions include dispositions based upon either the results of contested case hearings or settlement agreements submitted by the parties.

The DCCA and the Boards and Commissions are responsible for ensuring those with professional and vocational licenses are performing up to the standards prescribed by state law.

Respondent: Stephen H. Denzer, M.D. (Hawai’i Island)
Case Number: MED 2010-199-L
Sanction: License on probation for a period to run concurrent to the effective term of the Memorandum of Agreement with the Drug Enforcement Administration; fully comply with Impairment Monitoring Agreement and Memorandum of Agreement; provide the Board with quarterly reports of proof of compliance Effective Date: 12-13-12

In the reply, Senator Ruderman apologized to Mr. Banta for the delay in replying to his message concerning the dangerous driving conditions faced by his wife at night. Senator Ruderman has been very busy preparing for the 2013 legislative session, but has still made a great effort to respond personally to scores of calls and emails from constituents through official means of contact. It has taken some time for our staff to transition the former campaign facebook account into a formal channel of communication, according to Hawaii State Senate rules, but we will strive for more prompt replies via facebook in the future.

We would greatly appreciate if you could communicate to constituents that the best way to ensure their concerns about District 2 are responded to promptly are to contact Senator Ruderman:

Also, would you kindly share Mr. Banta’s contact information with us so that we are able to directly address his concern directly and update him on our progress on Highway 130?

Mahalo for providing the Big Island community with free press and your assistance in creating clear channels of communication with the constituents of District 2. We appreciate you sharing Senator Ruderman’s SB377 in Bill Introduced to Bring $65 Million for Capital Improvements Projects to Puna Area. If you require any further information on the correction or information on Senator Ruderman and his work, please feel free to contact me directly.

A West Hawaiʻi man and woman have been charged with numerous drug offenses after their arrest in Waimea last week.

Jessie Bitton

On Thursday (January 17), South Kohala officers responded to a disturbance at a motel on Lindsey Road in Waimea. Police found 20-year-old Robert Reed, who has no permanent address, unresponsive and in a room with 22-year-old Jessie Bitton of Kailua-Kona. Narcotics were visible in the room.

Robert Reed

Reed was taken to North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital, where he was treated and later released.

During the execution of a search warrant, Vice Section officers recovered 166.5 grams of cocaine, 7 ounces of marijuana, paraphernalia associated with the use and distribution of illegal drugs, and $8,900 in cash from the motel room, as well as a small quantity of cocaine residue and 12.1 grams of marijuana from Reed’s vehicle.

Reed and Bitton were arrested Thursday. On Friday (January 18), they were each charged with 10 counts of promoting a dangerous drug, six counts of promoting a detrimental drug, seven counts of possessing drug paraphernalia and one count of promoting a controlled substance near a school. Their bail was set at $313,000 each.

They were held at the Kona police cellblock pending their initial court appearance Tuesday (January 22).

Looks like the Thirty Meter Telescope may be getting a partner with some funding behind it.

Indian astronomers have asked the Union government for $140 million (Rs 750 crore) to join an international plan to build the world’s most advanced telescope on the top of a volcanic mountain in Hawaii.

India hopes to contribute 10 per cent of the $1.4 billion for the thirty-metre-telescope (TMT) planned by an academic consortium from the US, China, Japan, Canada and India, members of the consortium said today.

In an article written today by John Burnett of the Hawaii Tribune entitled, “Subpoena seeks names of people who wrote online,” Hilo Attorney Ted Hong has requested personal information regarding folks that commented on an article written on January 30th, 2012.

Click to read article

The newspaper complied with the demand and gave away the information of their readers, which they can legally do.

…Hilo attorney Ted Hong, who’s representing Elections Office Administrator Pat Nakamoto in her defamation lawsuit against former County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong and former County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi, filed the subpoena on Jan. 4 in 3rd Circuit Court. In it, he’s seeking the identities of individuals posting under the user-names “punatic,” “Taxedtodeath,” “punatic8,” “QQ,” “548991” and “rsjm.”

The document seeks “any and all account information, including but not limited to, name, birthdate, mailing address, telephone number(s), Internet protocol address, (and) name of Internet service provider … .” The deadline for providing the information is today.

A legal disclaimer on the Tribune-Herald’s website contains the statement: “IP and email addresses of persons who post are not treated as confidential records and will be disclosed in response to valid legal process.”

“We are complying with the subpoena requests,” said David Bock, Tribune-Herald editor and news director for Stephens Media Hawaii. “We are very protective of our news sources and reporters’ work, but we have no control over what members of the public write in our website’s comments section…”

Unfortunately, Ted Hong is also requesting that one of the paid journalists to turn over her notes in the case regarding this same case involving the fired election workers.

Hawaii has a shield law that protects both bloggers and journalists from turning over their sources.

“Hawaii allows anyone to claim protections under the shield law so long as they meet certain conditions, such as proving they write regular reports of substantial public interest.”(Civil Beat 8/31/12)

Burnett of the Tribune Herald writes:

“…West Hawaii Today also was subpoenaed by Hong, seeking the notes of Stephens Media reporter Nancy Cook Lauer regarding stories she wrote about the firing of Nakamoto and three other elections workers, and the flap that ensued.

Bock said Stephens Media is fighting that subpoena, noting that Hawaii has a “shield law” protecting journalists in most cases from having to turn over their notes or the identities of their sources…”

I hope that Nancy Cook Lauer and the folks at West Hawaii Today stick to their guns and do not allow their reporters notes to be turned over to investigators. It would be a huge step back in journalism and folks would no longer feel comfortable talking to reporters about things they know about if they might get in trouble for it in the future.

I’ve noticed that Tiffany Edwards Hunt of the Big Island Chronicle and David Corrigan of Big Island Video News have been pretty quiet and not blogging as much of late. I wonder if they also got served with these subpoenas?

Hawaiʻi Island police are searching for a 57-year-old Kailua-Kona man who was reported missing.

John Eckert

John Eckert was last seen on January 13 in Kailua-Kona at approximately 6 p.m.

He is described as Caucasian, 6-foot-2, 184 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

Police ask that anyone with information on his whereabouts call the Police Department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona.

We’re just a couple of guyswho are wearing visors in HawaiiNow we’re having a candlelit dinner,waiter brought me Ahi.I said Mahi Mahi, not Ahi,but I bet that’s a common mistake when you take the order from a guywho stutters when he orders tuna steak.They freakin’ sound the same.Why they name the fish like that?Nevermind let me get to the point of the song.This fish name tangent got me side-tracked. We’re a couple of guys in Hawaii.There is nothing wrong with a couple guysenjoying time together.We’re a couple of guys in Hawaii.We’re wearing beach shortssitting out enjoying the weather.We’re spending New Years in Hawaii.New Years, Hawaii, with a guy,he’s just my friend, that’s it. Uh!What you think about New Years Eve tradition?Midnight happens, people start kissin’.That’s a tradition we’ll be missin’cause we are just friends.Maybe later we will talk to some honeys,buy them some drinks, waste our money,but first we want to count the stars,and trace them with our hands.Tell me why a couple guyslooking up in the skyimplies anythingother than a deep deep friendship?Look me in the eyes and tell me why why,Tell me why wah whywicka wicka wah wah?Just a couple of guys in Hawaii waii waii.Hawaii, wah wahh wah, wicka wicka wah wah.It’s gettin’ pretty cold,if I told you I wanna hold you,would that be too bold?Come here. We’re a couple of guys in Hawaii.There is nothing wrong with a couple guysenjoying time together.We’re a couple of guys in Hawaii.We’re wearing beach shortssitting out enjoying the weather.We’re spending New Years in Hawaii.New Years, Hawaii, with a guy,he’s just my friend, that’s it. Out

Hawaiʻi Island police have charged 19-year-old Kawena Krause of Kurtistown in connection with the disappearance of 44-year-old Dante Peter Gilman of Hawaiian Acres, who was reported missing on January 10.

Kawena K. Krause

Krause was charged at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (January 19) with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, second-degree theft and use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony.